Judges Focus

K-B Change rein across the diagonal - Regularity of the trot.

B Medium walk - Transition

Between B and M Angle to the 1/4 line and across from M execute a half-circle right 5m.
M Return to the rail and continue - Precision of the geometry, balance.

Between B and F Angle to the 1/4 line and across from F execute a half-circle left 5m.
Return to the rail and continue - Precision of the geometry, balance.

B Working Trot...

How to lose the easy points in a show

The easy points are the ones you get for accuracy and following directions.

Judge A, as well as some riders have a different interpretation of the wording of #5 and 6. Due to the wording it is not clear that you 'should' leave the rail at B and go directly to the point on the quarter-line where the half-circle begins. Some Judges are accepting a variation to the geometry that leaves the rail somewhere between B and M(F), arrives at some point on the quarter-line and then begins the half-circle across from M(F). The problem arises when Judge B, who interprets the wording as originally intended (see description above) marks down your geometry of the obstacle.

As Balance and Geometry are the main factors judged in this obstacle, that can affect your score substantially. If you ride with Judge A or B and do the obstacle as I've described you will not be marked down for incorrect Geometry but if you ride with Judge B and do the obstacle with one of the variations, you will be.

How to make it easier

Red cone marking where to aim your horse when crossing the diagonal (explained in the next section).

Red cone gates (openings) marking the beginning, middle and end of the half-circles

Or, a single blue cone marking the middle of the half-circle as a focal point.

What will probably happen and How you can fix it

Even though it's at a walk, a lot happens in a short time at the beginning of this series.

Incorrect placement of the transition from trot to walk at B (see next image).
Turning on to the rail and transitioning without being early or late is a challenge.
The mistake people make is they ride towards B. In dressage the position of your body relative to the letter is what the Judge is looking for. If you leave K and aim for a spot on the rail 1m before B, then as you get there with the horse's nose and turn them, by the time their back feet arrive on the track you will be beside the letter, as you should be.
At this point you must also transition to walk so where you start asking for the horse to be prepared to do that will depend on your horses response time.

Leaving the rail late to go to the quarter-line (also next image).
If you have Judge A, at present, not a problem, but if you have Judge B, this will lower your geometry score.
We will assume you have Judge B who wants to see the pattern as drawn above, as all judges agree this is the most correct way to ride. Your goal is to arrive at letter B, transition to walk and continue to turn so you have a straight line from B to the point across from M.
However, how you go should be more important to you than where you go. So if you jerk your horse around the corner to be lined up for Geometry points, you will lose points for balance and resistance.
So there may be times you are on the rail past B in order to prepare your horse better. Knowing you will lose some geometry points, but picking quality of maneuver points.

Arriving at quarter-line early and potential resistance between B and half-circle (as shown above).
As you leave B you are on left-bend and when you do your half-circle you will need right-bend. If you go from B to the starting point of the half-circle, you have a long line with a shallow angle. Lots of time to perform your one bend change and be ready for the half-circle.
If instead you ride to a closer part of the quarter-line the angle of each turn is greater, requiring more bend. The line to change bends on is shorter. It also means you are relatively straight on the quarter-line and have to re-bend at the beginning of your circle. The chance of resistance with these extra changes is greater and is why the route as drawn in the first picture is a better choice.

Incorrect geometry in the half-circle (as shown below).
Riding a circle is covered in the 'Circles' lesson. However, this maneuver is often incorrectly placed.
A 5m half-circle started across from a letter that is 6m from the corner, does 'not' end up 1m from the end of the arena. A 5m half-circle is 2 1/2m from the circle to the middle (light blue cone shown in diagram above). So at any point on that circle you would be 2 1/2m from the center point of it. That puts you 3 1/2m from the end of the arena.

In the video below, the first horse is about 1m off the rail marked by their cone at K.
They trot to B so by the time they are on the rail her body is about 1m past B.
She turned off the rail to the quarter-line within one stride after getting fully on the rail which is good, but two strides past B due to arriving there late with her body.
She rode to the quarter-line arriving about 3 strides early, before the point that is across from the letter M.
Nice bend for the half-circle at M and good geometry on that part.
The second horse makes it to the rail better before leaving K for B.
She arrives 1m to the right of B so by the time her horse's hind feet arrive at the track, her body is right beside the letter B. This is what you want.
She stayed on the rail longer than the first horse (3 strides) with both being longer than the optimum.

She arrived at the quarter-line at the point across from M and immediately began her half-circle, however from this angle it appears shallow.
As I already reviewed this video in the Level 1 Dressage lesson, you can finish watching it there. I just wanted you to see the Geometry issues I had mentioned above.

Resources mentioned

Circles

No content is available in this lesson!

No lessons available !

Lesson contents locked